This brochure intends to make a distinction between freedom of expression and hate speech, both from a terminology and a legal point of view, as well as to differentiate them from other related concepts, such as defamation and insult.

The Eurobarometer survey presents the attitude of European Union citizens towards illegal and harmful content on the Internet and their knowledge of how to protect their children against it. It covers 25 Member States, candidate and acceding countries and was conducted in December 2005.